In Guy Ritchie’s latest Netflix series, crime is art and profanity is pure poetry
The Gentlemen is the best show I've watched on Netflix this year.
The eight-part series (one hour per episode) reveals creator-writer-director Guy Ritchie at the very pinnacle of his storytelling and cinematic craftsmanship. But it's the riveting in-your-face-chew-it-up-and-spit-it-out performances from everyone in the assembled cast that makes The Gentlemen such a wildly entertaining – and often hysterically funny -- crime caper.
Clearly, Guy Ritchie has reached new heights (or depths) of guilty-pleasure comedic depravity. To British crime dramas he’s become what his counterparts Martin Scorsese and Quentin Tarantino have been to classics about the American underworld for decades -- its de facto quasi-fictional biographer, documentarian, and image consultant. However, there are significant stylistic differences attached to any Ritchie film, including this one.
“You know what I love about the English aristocracy? They’re the original gangsters. They stole everything.”
Ritchie's movie narratives (Lock, Stock and Two Smoking Barrels, Snatch, Sherlock Holmes) have often relied upon the twisted caricatures of stylistic villains and a virtual torrent of dark humor. Each character's staccato dialogue – delivered in the thick accents of East London and murky seaport lingo of Liverpool – are interspersed with such artful profanity that it sounds downright streetwise Shakespearean. Conversations are sometimes difficult to decipher (particularly for American audiences). But these verbal soliloquy puzzles only add to the quirkiness and overall authenticity of organized crime as a violent haven for those with peculiar skill sets. Sometimes, we can't even understand what the villains are saying, but somehow the insult is just as piercing and still funny.
The Gentlemen was released in March 2024. It's a spin-off of Ritchie's 2019 film of the same name (which wasn’t quite as good as this lengthier adaptation). The Netflix mini-series stars Theo James in the lead role. But it's the supporting cast that often steals every frame.
The premise is entirely plausible, even though we're expecting plenty of camp humor and gratuitous violence. The series opens with Edward Horniman (a sort of Prince William figure) nobly serving among elite British military forces. He suddenly gets plucked away from a war zone in the Middle East to return home to the family castle in order to tend to emergency family business. He unexpectedly inherited control of a vast estate from his deceased father along with a royal title (Duke). However, he learns that – given the expenses – the estate would be bankrupt were it not for some, let’s just say, “creative business ventures” on the side. In fact, the royal estate is connected to a lucrative cannabis-growing empire connected to the British underworld which provides all the under-the-table income needed for everyone involved to prosper. None of this is legal, of course. British gangsters effectively have been pulling all the strings and using compromised royals as puppets, that is, until the young Duke's arrival. This sets off a madcap string of backroom sit-downs and stare-downs, threats, insults, robberies, beatings, double-crosses, and killings that gradually pull the Duke over to the dark side….one adrenaline rush at a time.
“What are my options? Frying pan….or fryer?”
The Gentlemen contains obvious story parallels to the wonderfully absorbing crime drama series Breaking Bad, which ran for five seasons (2008-2012), later followed by Better Call Saul (2015-2022). In those two long running dark comedies, the everyman protagonist gets lured into a dangerous crime web one smarmy scene at a time, until the "Et tu, Brute?" revelation that the good guy has become a bad guy. There’s even some Godfather tossed in here too, particularly in the interplay between the two brothers, polar opposites, who could be this century’s Michael and Fredo.
The comparisons aren’t just of subject and style. The stellar supporting cast shares some similar performances and performers, most notably Giancarlo Esposito (so wonderfully cool as villain Gus Fring, the fast-food restaurant manager/crime empire boss in Breaking Bad). Veteran actor Ray Winstone (terrific as the good guy lead in Sexy Beast) plays an imprisoned crime family patriarch. However his daughter Susan “Susie” Glass (arguably the most complex character in the entire series, played with perfect precision by Kaya Scodelario) has been delegated full control of the drug operation given her father is serving an 8-year stint and is the vital link between the hopelessly compromised royals and the exploitative and opportunistic criminals willing to squeeze them for every luxury in their possession. Also of note is the Duke's disheveled coke-addicted loser of a brother (played by Daniel Ings), who was passed over in the inheritance, who gives a master class on profanity-laden rants of rage. It’s often great fun to watch.
Accentuating this crime crescendo which builds to an unforeseeable ending (for Season 1), The Gentlemen is constantly accompanied by a catchy and often haunting musical soundtrack. Killing scenes are frequently serenaded with melodic Gregorian chants and the angelic voices of abbey choirs. We also get the thundering bass during chases murmuring our collective heartbeats. Scenes too are often shot from highly unusual angles -- from the dented boots of the gangsters stepping out of cars into puddles, to the top of the coiffured hairlines of characters who are speaking. The seemingly inappropriate audio contrasts and odd visual vantage points only serve to add to the twisted morality and ethics of all involved.
We've been over this familiar territory many times before and there's nothing wrong with another joyful revisit. Indeed, The Gentlemen borrows generously from all the major cinematic influences of the popular genre, past and present. However, rarely have audiences been treated to such a banquet of extended excess. Sure, creating Goodfellas or Pulp Fiction merits praise. But those stories were one-time, two-hour films. The greater challenge and accomplishment is to sustain that same narrative and energy for eight hours, or more. Guy Ritchie has done exactly that.
Fortunately, there's talk that this series will continue. Season 1 is airing now. There are reports that a Season 2 may soon be on the horizon.
If true, The Gentlemen is very likely (and deserving) to take a rightful place among the pantheon of great gangster movies, albeit with an English twist, lots of quirky accents, and Guy Ritchie's unique creative flair.
About the Writer: Always opinionated and often controversial, Nolan Dalla writes pretty much whatever he wants. His betting advice, gambling stories, restaurant reviews, movie opinions, political diatribes, tributes, and personal insults can be found daily at his website: nolandalla.com. Nolan also goes on massive tilt when losing, and is known for some epic, profanity-laden rants. He'll be contributing regularly to Betcoin.
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